ORLANDO, Fla. – Next week, an award-winning Broadway show will be launching its national tour in Orlando.
Paul Mecurio from “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is bringing his interactive comedy show, “Permission to Speak” to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 29.
Mecurio talked about why he’s bringing his show to Central Florida first.
“I’m doing it at the Dr. Phillips Center, which is one of the premier performing arts centers in the country, so it’s just a real honor to be able to do it there. Orlando’s got a great comedy community and my show is, you know, comedic, but also has a point of view of connecting people,” Mecurio said.
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The show features the comedian and the audience. Mecurio invites people on stage, asking them about their lives and what they think. He says at times, people reveal relatable and funny stories.
“You interview people and you get these amazing stories. The premise of the show is, we’re nameless and faceless to each other, kind of disconnected, even divisive at times, but if we talk and share stories, we realize we have more in common than we think and we’re not so divisive,” Mecurio said.
“It’s not a political show. It’s a fun show with these absolutely hilarious stories and I’m telling stories and doing standup as well,” he went on to explain.
The goal of the show is to bring everyone together and remind people what connects us as humans.
Because each show gets the audience involved, no two shows are ever the same.
“What’s happening is the stories are coming out, they’re really fun, they’re really funny and people are connecting after the show. They’ll go up to somebody and say, ‘Oh yeah, I loved your story about, you know, coming out,’ or, ‘Hey, you’re from Orlando, I’m from Orlando,’ ‘You’re from Michigan, I’m from Michigan.’ So it’s been a really fun way to connect people, just have a few laughs, just like we’re hanging out in somebody’s big basement, having drinks and telling stories,” Mecurio said.
The show is directed and produced by Frank Oz, who’s also known for movies such as ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,’ ‘Bowfinger,’ ‘Stepford Wives’ and ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
Tickets start at $40. Click here for more information.
Watch the full interview below to hear what to expect from the show, how Mecurio got into comedy when he was a lawyer and a funny story about how Jay Leno used his jokes when he was just writing them as a hobby:
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